Sales Operations Reporting Executive Review

Throughout the duration of my placement I have enjoyed working at Volkswagen. The work was challenging throughout meaning that there was never a moment were you felt you weren't pushing yourself. In addition the people are what the made the difference in enjoying my placement, since the people who work at Volkswagen are down to earth and truly nice people. By working in a close nit team this meant that I did enjoy my placement year.

While working at Volkswagen I worked in small team of three people, this meant that if we were to work efficiently and effectively we had to value each other’s input. This meant that my colleagues valued my input and this was conveyed back to me. This was feedback via verbal feedback, written and evens occasionally an tangible reward.

The support and guidance I received from my team and the wider brand within Volkswagen I worked in for my year’s placement was truly outstanding. At any one point if I was requiring support from anyone within the business I knew that was able to send them an email or have an conversation with them and be supported in the matter. I was I was able to speak to anyone freely and openly about progression in the business, industry and future careers elsewhere.

As previously mentioned I've worked in a small close nit team throughout my year at Volkswagen. This meant that I was very busy on a daily bases whether it was from daily reporting to providing insight. Throughout my placement from week 1 to week 55 I have had a full days’ worth of work to complete with deadlines attached.

During my placement I was given more responsibility than I had first expected to have., My internal responsibilities varied from having to send out daily reports to support our area (Field Based) teams to compiling and building reports to send to the management team within my brand. My external responsibilities where having contact via email and phone to our network colleagues aiding the network of Centres in pursuing there targets.

Volkswagen provided above and beyond training opportunities and invested in trying to keep undergrads wanting to come back, this varied from having inductions from all the Brands and functions (including Volkswagen Financial services) and training in how to use all systems with the opportunity to take additional courses varying from time management to how be a better people manager. However the extent to which the placement helped me develop and assist in my degree and beyond was relatively small. Majority of what I have learnt is not applicable to my degree. However it did help me in trying to apply theories that I learnt at university to the real world. The other skills I have been able to take is being able to work under pressure and time management skills, with these two being the most valuable skills I have taken away and will assist me in my future, Finally the placement did help identify to me where I would like to see myself future career and the path I would like to take. So in the sense of helping me narrow my sites to a specific field the experience has be invaluable.

The general atmosphere in the office was overall very positive and happy this was further confirmed by regular mood barometer polls. There was a very good mix of having fun and getting work down at the same time. It was a very enjoyable environment to be in. This meant that I would say that work was done to a better standard on average because you looked forward to coming into work in the morning.

Taking the whole experience into account I would say the placement was well organised on average. However they implemented some policies for the undergraduate scheme in my opinion to late in the process. Varying from giving some training sessions to late in the year which would have been more valuable at the start of the placement and some ideas which they had developed and then decided to implement half way through the placement. Other than the few little problems I imagine that for next years intake this will be corrected as they will be in place from the start of the year which will add tremendous value.

I was amazed by the amount company invested into training and development for their undergraduates. Consistently throughout the year we had regular training sessions to help develop our skill sets. This varied from Microsoft packages training to management skills. These were all arranged by the HR team meaning that there was minimum output of time required and minimal stress in getting onto a training course.

For me personally the employment prospects were not the most appealing within the organisation. However, if are very enthusiastic for cars the future employment prospects would probably be quite appealing to you. As if you progressed through the company enough you would have the opportunity to drive every vehicle in the Volkswagen brand. In addition to this personally I could not see a clear progression path within the company which would fulfil my future goals.

With their being over 30 undergrads! This meant there was every opportunity for there to be a good social scene amongst fellow undergrads, There would always be somebody around most weekends if you wanted to do something. There would be no need to be worried that there would be no social scene here, as in addition to socialising with other students there are many groups and activities you can join in with from football to golf.

I would say the Milton Keynes seem to be a relatively expensive place to live and socialise in. As being only a 30 minute train away from London this meant that the cost to rent here is relatively high when compared to other towns of a similar size. This meant that your disposable income was fairly low. However with proper budgeting (Similar to university) you could save/spend some money, as some undergrads saved enough to go on short holidays. The cost to socialise was relatively expensive with drinks costing from around £5-£10 and food being scaled up to a similar cost.

Nightlife? The nightlife in Milton Keynes can only be described as dead for somebody in there 20s. This is due to there only really being one nightclub with there only being what I can describe as chain bars which had no real atmosphere in and with the local population dominated by young family's this meant there wasn't ever going to be a big night life scene here. I would compare the nightlife here to that of any small town.

There are many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work varying from volunteering, sports and days out. While I have worked at Volkswagen they have organised events to Disneyland, concerts and many more. I have personally been involved in the Golf society here which enabled me to network and enjoy myself at the same time.